Liberal: Why Dems May Shut Down Gov’t

Don’t bet on a deal to avoid a government shutdown when the “current stopgap spending measure expires on March 14,” warns New York magazine’s Ed Kilgore. “With just over three weeks until the money runs out, there have been virtually no real negotiations,” and “the two parties are perhaps farther apart than ever in their ideas about appropriate spending levels.” “Most important,” while Senate Dems can block any deal, Democrats are “horrified by the ever-proliferating power grabs undertaken so quickly by Trump and his agents — and by what they are doing with that power.” “Passively watching the whole crazy show” looks bad for Dems in Congress, “whose constituents are frantic for them to do something.” This may well be their only shot this year to do anything about it.

Jerusalem Post: Don’t Shrug Off Failed Bombings

Explosive planted on buses, meant “to detonate during the Friday morning rush hour, could have killed or maimed hundreds of innocent civilians” but for “a technical failure”; now the perps “must be hunted down, and those responsible — whether in the West Bank, Gaza, or Tehran — must face the consequences,” argues the Jerusalem Post editorial board. Early signs are that Iran planned the attack while Hamas terrorists from the West Bank executed it; “if true, this is not merely a localized terror attack — it is part of a broader strategy by Iran to destabilize Israel through its proxies.” “A powerful, unambiguous response is not just necessary for deterrence — it is the only way to ensure that such an attack never comes close to succeeding again.”

Libertarian: Behind Public Doubts on DOGE

“Americans think government is wasteful” but “support for DOGE is lukewarm,” notes Reason’s J.D. Tuccille. Pew polls show 56% “of Americans say government is ‘almost always wasteful and inefficient,’ ” yet “DOGE draws just a 39 percent ‘favorable’ rating” in the latest The Economist/YouGov poll. “DOGE faces obstacles from Democrats who recognize that the government is corrupt and inefficient but want more of it anyway. It also faces a challenge in Republicans and independents who say they want less government but don’t want to surrender their favorite boondoggles.” Sure, Americans “have a low opinion of the federal government, but they might be willing to put up with its deep flaws so long as it delivers their goodies.”

Ukraine beat: Minerals Deal Is Key for Kyiv

President Trump’s proposed minerals deal “between the US and Ukraine could offer significant benefits for Ukraine,” concludes Kurt Volker at the Kyiv Post. Trump’s proposal changes “the domestic political narrative, making the case that Ukraine is paying its way,” rather than “using taxpayer resources.” Plus, “it gives the United States a vested interest in ending the war” while securing “Ukraine as a strategic partner” vis-à-vis Russia. “The first draft of a US-Ukraine resources deal was “seriously flawed” but such “a resources deal provides an incentive” for Vladimir Putin and a weakened Russia to “end the war.” The accord aligns “US and Ukrainian interests” and builds “a peaceful, prosperous, European Ukraine.”

Culture critic: Hamas’ ‘Unforgivable’ Abomination

“I have spent my life witnessing” the most “atrocious crimes,” recalls Bernard-Henri Lévy at The Wall Street Journal, but “I’m not sure I have ever encountered such horror” as befell Kfir and Ariel Bibas and their mother Shiri. “In other wars, the death of a child is the ultimate shame, and some remnant of humanity” generally “prevents captors from bothering with infants.” But Hamas deliberately took “the time to abduct” the two “terrified” boys. And “as unbearable as it is, we must imagine” the moment they died, “because the ultimate indecency” would be “to close our eyes and refuse to see.” “Damn those who try to drag us into the false game of moral equivalency”; this “death of innocence” is “Hamas’s abomination alone — and it is unforgivable.”

— Compiled by The Post Editorial Board